Deal with the “Elections Fraud trial” before announcing date for 2025 Elections

Oct 31, 2024 Letters

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Dear Editor,

Frustration! Frustration! Frustration! How much more must Guyana endure at the hands of the opposition? But this is nothing new in the current scenario, and thus, yet again, the Attorney General, Anil Nandlall, is quite definitive, as he is calling for a “firm direction” on the way forward, concerning the ‘election fraud’ trial, as the date for the continuation of the matter approaches, but yet seems evanescent. It indeed seems as though the opposition is quite steeped in the ‘politics of dalliance’ which for me, has its roots in the December 2018, ‘no-confidence’ motion, that brought down the administration of President David Granger, and which should have forced fresh elections by March of 2019. But that never happened.

How come?

Well, as the records can attest, Guyana’s general elections were held on March 2, but only after some 15 months (not the stipulated three) after President David Granger’s coalition, A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC), lost that one-seat majority in the Parliament of Guyana in December 2018. In fact, fresh elections were realised only when, on June 18, 2019, the Caribbean Court of Justice ruled that the December 2018 no-confidence vote had been validly passed by a majority of MPs, which led to a constitutional call for new elections by September 18, 2019. This time-wasting was uncalled for. The voting should have taken place already. And even so, despite this ruling, the government further delayed the date of elections until March 2, 2020, as it held on to power illegally for a total of some 12 months.

Currently, as it stands, nine people, including former Government Ministers and Opposition members, along with former employees of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), are before the court for electoral fraud. The charges emanated from the 2020 General and Regional Elections, which lasted for five months due to efforts to derail the results of the elections.

This trial commenced before Senior Magistrate Leron Daly on July 29, and was set to run from then to September 13. However, the magistrate, in typical malingering mode, proceeded on a prolonged period of sick leave, resulting in the case being pushed to October 31. However, this date is the public holiday of Deepavali, and this means that the court again will have to reschedule the sitting/hearing. This procrastination is willfully evil. I can feel for AG Nandlall, who is assiduously trying to expedite this matter. I am getting agitated and frustrated. Imagine how he is feeling. I join him in “declaring that there should be no more excuses at that hearing (next), but (that) there should be a definitive way forward.

Editor, Guyanese, one and all, I echo and reverberate the sentiments of Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, in voicing that “We simply can’t continue in this manner…it is hoped that the prosecutors and the defence will be informed definitively on the direction that the cases will go. If it is that the magistrate is unable to do the cases for health or other reasons, we ought not to hear that on the (next court date) without hearing more.

“We need to hear if that is the position, and a firm direction (should be) settled in terms of how the cases will proceed, with time being of the essence, so the early determination of the cases can be anticipated.”  I think that since the erstwhile government practised dilatory gamesmanship, it is only right that the PPP/C Government await this ruling before calling the next election, that is the 2025 one. This will speed up proceedings.

Let’s not forget that the current opposition, during its tenure, which should have ended three months after the fall in December 2018, illegally held power until March 2020, this after some 12 months of travesty. After all, and quite well stated, by the AG Nandlall, “… the judiciary needs to be held accountable over its handling of this matter. “The public deserves no less. The judiciary is a public institution that must be held accountable for the conduct of its business.”

Let me recap that the charges are serious: misconduct while holding public office; presenting falsified documentation; and planning to manipulate Guyana’s voters by presenting an inaccurate vote total. These charges stem from attempts to rig the 2020 General and Regional Elections in favour of the APNU/AFC, which had then been ruling the country. No wonder Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo added his concern stating that “… there is widespread public frustration over the delays in the trial, and he made it clear that the judiciary must address those delays.”

Yours truly,

Hargesh B. Singh

(Deal with the “Elections Fraud trial” before announcing date for 2025 Elections)

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• A Partnership For National Unity, Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC), Anil Nandlall, Attorney General, Guyana’s general elections

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